No Hero – The Evolution of a Navy SEAL – Mark Owen (Dutton Adult)
Mark Owen is the pseudonym of former Navy SEAL and
member of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group, better known as
Seal Team Six and the bestselling author of No
Easy Day, the account of his participation in, among other high profile
missions, the killing of Usama Bin Laden.
Owen is back with No
Hero – The Evolution of a Navy SEAL the story of his thirteen year career
in the SEALs. The story really does detail the evolution that he went through,
both mentally and physically as well as the strategic evolution of how the
Seals approached the mission at hand.
While certainly not giving away actionable
intelligence, Owen does offer up some insight into both the demands of becoming
one of the United States elite warriors and the process of the mission. While
he may not have set out to offer up a book on leadership, there is an
interesting set of business applicable theories.
While Owen and many of his fellow warriors try to shrug
off the hero label with the faint statement of “just doing our job” the truth
is we as a nation ask an enormous amount from these men, that they willingly
deliver with no desire for accolades and that is what truly makes them heroic.
The
Trident: The Forging and Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader – Jason Redman
(William Morrow)
Recently there have been a pile of books published by
and about members of the special forces/Navy SEAL warriors. Many recount in
great detail the physically punishing and demanding; training, testing and
missions that they endure along the way. While many in the genre are very good
reads, very few offer as intimate and intense a rendering of the life of a Navy
SEAL as The Trident: The Forging and
Reforging of a Navy SEAL Leader by Jason Redman.
Lt. Redman details the depths of his desire to pursue a
career in the military and as a member of the SEALs that dates back to his
youth. While many special forces books, both non-fiction and fiction accounts
tend to tell seemingly tall tales of super human heroics, Redman paints a much
more human story. While early on he struggled to balance the hard road and the
bravado with reality, Redman clearly evolves as the story progresses.
It’s rare to find a person with a “normal” job to admit
they made a critical error then overcome the difficulties associated with that
error, let alone a battle hardened SEAL to overcome that circumstance, but
that’s exactly what Redman did in spades. Not only did he overcome, he kicked
things up a notch to become a SEAL leader.
For a man trained to be self-reliant, but the member of
a team, Redman spells out the strength that he drew from his family to not only
overcome the strain of mission deployments, but also his recovery from severe
injuries sustained in a 2007 battle in Iraq where he suffered gunshot wounds to
the face and arm. The sign he posted on his hospital room door that boldly
declared that all who entered should not feel sorry for his injuries became a
symbol and rallying point not only for Redman, but for warriors everywhere.
If you read The
Trident and don’t come away inspired…then you may want to check for a pulse.
Navy
Seals: Their Untold Story – Dick Couch and William Doyle (William Morrow)
Former Navy SEAL and veteran military author Dick Couch
and writer/producer William Doyle have teamed for this comprehensive accounting
of the broad and evolutionary history of the Navy SEALS in the form of the book
and the PBS documentary Navy Seals: Their
Untold Story.
The story traces the step by step process of World War
II’s Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) through the “frogmen” of the Korean War
to the creation of the Sea Air and Land (SEAL) unit of highly skilled commandos
who conducted direct action and search a rescue missions to recover POWs during
the Viet Nam war. It was during the invasions of Grenada and Panama and later
during the first Gulf War That the SEALs transitioned to a highly specialized operators.
Couch’s first hand, “been there, done that” knowledge
combined to with incredible access to reams of classified documents and
information helps to create a very detailed portrait of the units staggering
history. The level of trust that these special operators have in Couch, as one
of their own, shines through in the in-person interviews that offer readers an
in the room and on the trail point of view to some of the units most legendary
operations.
This is a first rate account for those with even a
passing interest in the military and will be a must have companion piece to the
PBS series for those military history buffs.
War
Dogs – Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love – Rebecca Frankel (Palgrave
MacMillan)
Speaking of evolution…the role of canine warriors or
war dogs has undergone an amazing transformation over the course of time. It is
that evolution that is the cornerstone of Rebecca Frankel’s War Dogs – Tales of Canine Heroism, History,
and Love.
Frankel, a senior editor for Foreign Policy magazine,
authors a regular column entitled "Rebecca's War Dog of the Week"
which has been featured on The Best Defense since January of 2010, in which she
profiled the pooches that are the subject of the book.
Dubbed by some of the forces that they operate with as
“hair missiles” these dogs of war have played a crucial role in some of the
most notable military actions in our history. That role more recently has
included detecting improvised explosive devices, directed protective attacks
and the more traditional sniffing out the bad guys.
Frankel literally goes to the heart of the matter as
she details not only the work of these amazing animals, but incredible
relationships and integral roles they have with not only their handlers, but
the teams they work with and often protect.
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